House & land transfer to a minor upon divorce

[taxin]

Can ownership of a house & land be transferred to a minor as part of a divorce agreement ?

[blackcab]

I am assuming the minor is a Thai citizen. If so then yes, especially if both parties to the divorce agree.

 

If the property is currently in the mother's name then the transfer fees will be greatly reduced as the mother will gift the property to her child.

[Siam Bruce]

I am assuming as a foreigner you want to put the property in the Minors name so they have something when they come of age.

However,

If it is transferred into the minors sole name then which ADULT controls the property, this may well be the Mother.

What is to stop the Mother ( or  another) from selling the property?

 

I do not know the answer to this question, but I would want to ensure that the property cannot be sold until the minor can control it themselves.

 

Who will pay any Taxes / Utility bills etc  due on the property?

 

I look forward to reading the answers on the above from people who actually know, Not what they THINK.

 

Thanks

[taxin]

22 minutes ago, blackcab said:

I am assuming the minor is a Thai citizen. If so then yes, especially if both parties to the divorce agree.

 

If the property is currently in the mother's name then the transfer fees will be greatly reduced as the mother will gift the property to her child.

Yes the intended minor is a Thai citizen. 

[blackcab]

1 hour ago, Siam Bruce said:

What is to stop the Mother ( or  another) from selling the property?

 

The Land Office will not allow this to happen without a Court order. It's an absolute no.

[taxin]

2 hours ago, blackcab said:

 

The Land Office will not allow this to happen without a Court order. It's an absolute no.

Thanks Blackcab, this is also my understanding.

 

Do you know if the property can still be transferred to a minor if the property has been used as collateral towards a bank loan?

[blackcab]

No, because the bank will not allow the transfer.

 

You cannot transfer a property with an existing mortgage without permission from the mortgagor, and the mortgagor will not grant that permission.

 

You must completely pay off the mortgage and have it removed from the title deed before any transfer takes place.

 

In addition, you cannot give a minor an encumbrance. This means that you cannot add a mortgage, usufruct, servitude or a lease to the title deed without permission of the Court. You are extremely unlikely to get that permission.

[KhunLA]

16 hours ago, taxin said:

Thanks Blackcab, this is also my understanding.

 

Do you know if the property can still be transferred to a minor if the property has been used as collateral towards a bank loan?

You might want to lead with that next time.  Bank won't transfer the loan, unless buyer (minor / don't think so), or guardian qualifies for the loan.  If they'll do it at all.

 

No matter, the kid will have no control of property till 20 yrs old. If trying to avoid mother having control, you can't.

[taxin]

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

You might want to lead with that next time.  Bank won't transfer the loan, unless buyer (minor / don't think so), or guardian qualifies for the loan.  If they'll do it at all.

 

No matter, the kid will have no control of property till 20 yrs old. If trying to avoid mother having control, you can't.

Thanks KhunLA, there is no “buyer” and the loan would remain in the name of the parents, part of the divorce agreement is both guardians would still be responsible for the loan.

[taxin]

3 hours ago, blackcab said:

No, because the bank will not allow the transfer.

 

You cannot transfer a property with an existing mortgage without permission from the mortgagor, and the mortgagor will not grant that permission.

 

You must completely pay off the mortgage and have it removed from the title deed before any transfer takes place.

 

In addition, you cannot give a minor an encumbrance. This means that you cannot add a mortgage, usufruct, servitude or a lease to the title deed without permission of the Court. You are extremely unlikely to get that permission.

Thanks blackcab. OK so it seems the mortgager (the bank) would have the final say in it. What if paying off the mortgage is not an option, what would happen to the property in terms of ownership and responsibility of the loan upon divorce ?

[blackcab]

4 hours ago, taxin said:

Thanks blackcab. OK so it seems the mortgager (the bank) would have the final say in it. What if paying off the mortgage is not an option, what would happen to the property in terms of ownership and responsibility of the loan upon divorce ?

 

Who is responsible for the loan at the minute? Your wife as sole mortgagee; your wife and yourself as joint mortgagees; a limited company or one of the above with you and/or your wife as a personal guarantor?

[taxin]

9 hours ago, blackcab said:

 

Who is responsible for the loan at the minute? Your wife as sole mortgagee; your wife and yourself as joint mortgagees; a limited company or one of the above with you and/or your wife as a personal guarantor?

My wife and myself are responsible for the loan, it’s in her name with myself as a guarantor.

[blackcab]

You have two options:

 

1. The property is sold, the mortgage is paid off and any profit is divided between both parties. Other assets are equally divided. This gives both parties a full and final settlement and a clean financial break.

 

2. Assuming there are enough other assets in the relationship, you reach an amicable agreement with your wife whereby she retains the property and you retain the other assets.

 

With option 2 you could amicably agree that your wife becomes liable for the outstanding mortgage payments, but in any event you would still remain liable as a guarantor due to the mortgage contract you previously signed.

 

Realistically it depends on how much time and money you have left to repay the mortgage.

 

If there is a substantial amount of time and debt remaining before the mortgage is repaid then most people take option 1.

[taxin]

5 hours ago, blackcab said:

You have two options:

 

1. The property is sold, the mortgage is paid off and any profit is divided between both parties. Other assets are equally divided. This gives both parties a full and final settlement and a clean financial break.

 

2. Assuming there are enough other assets in the relationship, you reach an amicable agreement with your wife whereby she retains the property and you retain the other assets.

 

With option 2 you could amicably agree that your wife becomes liable for the outstanding mortgage payments, but in any event you would still remain liable as a guarantor due to the mortgage contract you previously signed.

 

Realistically it depends on how long you have left to repay the mortgage.

 

If there is a substantial amount of time remaining before the mortgage is repaid then most people take option 1.

Thanks blackcab, option one is unfortunately not an option, and yes there is quite a substantial amount of time remaining on the loan.

 

 

[BritManToo]

Option 3.

Walk away, let her default on the mortgage (or not).

This was always my plan in the event of disaster.

[taxin]

8 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Option 3.

Walk away, let her default on the mortgage (or not).

This was always my plan in the event of disaster.

It’s far from being a “disaster”, rather the opposite.

[Bangkokhatter]

Just seen this topic and as my situation is similar to the OP'S thought i would add it here rather than make a new topic.

 

Is it possible the father (who is paying the mortgage as guarantor) remains living in the house with legal custody of the daughter and when mortgage is paid off the house is then transferred to the daughter ?

 

I imagine some sort of agreement must be added to divorce papers ?

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, Bangkokhatter said:

Just seen this topic and as my situation is similar to the OP'S thought i would add it here rather than make a new topic.

 

Is it possible the father (who is paying the mortgage as guarantor) remains living in the house with legal custody of the daughter and when mortgage is paid off the house is then transferred to the daughter ?

 

I imagine some sort of agreement must be added to divorce papers ?

Can't transfer debt to a minor.

So if there's a mortgage, a kid can't own it.

[Bangkokhatter]

21 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Can't transfer debt to a minor.

So if there's a mortgage, a kid can't own it.

Did you miss the part about "when the mortgage is paid off" ?

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, Bangkokhatter said:

Did you miss the part about "when the mortgage is paid off" ?

I disregarded it, as the divorced woman will just sell it the moment the divorce is granted, and nobody will make her wait.